Fancy Play Syndrome

When beginning players start learning some poker tips, they sometimes develop what's called “fancy play syndrome.” They've read that it's better to raise all-in with an inside straight draw than to do with it nothing at all, so when they get bet into they fling all the chips in the middle. They know that a bluff check-raise against an aggressive player is one way to punish his aggressiveness, so they fire those chips out there.

The key to all of these plays is to use them sparingly. Usually, if an aggressive player bets and you have nothing at all, just let your hand go. Once in a while you can try to force them off a hand, but if you do it just because, you're going to wind up bleeding chips quickly.